Can England win the 2014 World Cup?

Can England end 48 years of hurt by lifting the World Cup in Brazil next summer?

That will all depend on the squad. Are they strong enough to handle the pressure?

Goalkeepers

England have been unable to gain solidarity between the sticks since the days of Paul Robinson, but luckily now the English youth systems have produced a cracker in the shape of Joe Hart.

The 25-year-old has been one of the best in the world in recent years and has found success at his club Manchester City. He shows pure talent but can from time to time get a bit over-confident and start to make mistakes - if he plugs that hole he will become unbeatable.

Hart also comes complete with back-up in the form of Norwich 'keeper John Ruddy and soon-to-be Stoke shot-stopper Jack Butland, West Brom's Ben Foster and maybe slightly more optimistically Robert Green of QPR, too.

All of whom have been selected at international level, while Robert Green was the original No.1 in South Africa until fumbling Clint Dempsey's tame 25-yard shot to start England off with a draw against the USA.

Defenders

England have little problem in defence. Plenty of young choice thrown in along with calm experienced heads.

Centre-backs include Chelsea's Gary Cahill, Manchester City's Joleon Lescott, Everton's Phil Jagielka and Manchester United's Chris Smalling, as well as others. Lescott and Gary Cahill are experienced cool heads and are still relatively young. The full-backs provide a flurry of youth and speed and excellence with Leighton Baines, Glen Johnson, Kyle Walker, Micah Richards, Kieran Gibbs and old head Ashely cole, who I expect to be replaced by Everton's Baines in the very near future.

Players like Johnson are real gems; he's able to play on both sides as well as get forward. Baines provides similar attacking threat.

Midfielders

The English midfield is regenerating and by next year will have lost it's experience so talent alone will have to pull the young lads through, but lack of talent isn't a problem that the England midfield will have anytime soon.

Arsenal could provide the whole midfield if needed with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott all being sent by the Gunners. But other options include Manchester United duo Tom Cleverley and Ashley Young, a possible recall of Liverpool's Stewart Downing, James Milner and Spurs winger Aaron Lennon.

All players have high attacking capabilities and are always 100% committed.

Forwards

When talking about the England forward-line, it's easy to be drawn into talking about Wayne Rooney. The nation can be critical of Rooney for not meeting standards he consistently sets at Manchester United and sometimes he can be guilty of that, but he's a man for the occasion. Fellow United team-mate Danny Welbeck will provide support along with Daniel Sturridge, big Andy Carroll and even Manchester United's new boy Wilfred Zaha may be up to the occasion come May 2014.

One thing that the England team brings is players that all play in the same league and that can either make or break the team, and the fact that players cannot just walk in from abroad and settle in shows the ability these players play to week-by-week should be no different in a one-off summer tournament.

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DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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